Mass Effect: Heroes wanted, apply within!
by zergbait
Summary: One hundred years after the Reaper War, a time of rebuilding. Large areas of the Traverse are being annexed as official Citadel space due to strong lobbying by humanity. The Batarian Hegemony has begun pushing back against the human expansion bringing new conflicts. Among these conflicts an old betrayer rears it's head and a new hero is forged in blood to meet this challenge.
1. Prologue 1: What was lost is found

In the years following the end of the Reaper War rapid advancements in biotechnology greatly enhanced the human condition. Diseases were eradicated and most common ailments related to age were all but eliminated. Humans living at the time just after the war could , with appropriate gene therapy, add 100 years of relative good health to their lifespan. The generation born after the end of the war could look forward to 2 - 3 centuries of good health before seeing any ill effects from age.

At the forefront of this medical revolution is the Orion Foundation. A biotech and medical research group founded by Miranda Lawson and her sister Oriana using funds appropriated from the then defunct Cerberus. Many of the advancements made were all based on the groundbreaking work Miranda did with the Lazerus project.

The Systems Alliance has begun pushing further into the Attican Traverse, colonizing more and more worlds. This brought further conflict with the Batarian Hegemony which saw this as nothing short of an invasion into hegemony space. Incidents of clashes with pirate and slaver gangs were on the rise. Mercenary groups like Eclipse and the Blue Suns were becoming very wealthy with protections contracts from private trade groups and corporations.

 **2247 C.E.**

 **Voyager Cluster / Columbia System / Asteroid belt**

The humbly named asteroid 871G meandered lazily in it's 10,000 year orbit. A type C asteroid formed billions of years ago when the planets of this system were still molten hot. Asteroid 871G was a mostly uninteresting hunk of carbon easily overlooked amongst the billions of other such objects in this asteroid belt. However if, for whatever reason, one took a close interest in this particular rock they may just notice an unusually round rock formation on it's surface. This unusual object sat amongst the jagged black rocks quietly, emitting no light or radiation of any kind.

A figure in a blue and black environment suit ran it's hands carefully over an unnaturally smooth black surface. It's helmet lamp grazed across the blank wall, searching. It's hand paused momentarily over a square depression in the wall. The suited figure stepped back and tapped a few commands on the omni-tool at its wrist. A holographic display popped up over the square depression. Another tap and a previously unseen door slid open revealing a dark entryway. Long unused lights began flickering on illuminating a hallway leading to another set of doors. A final light at the end of the hallway clicked on revealing a symbol emblazoned over the doors - an elongated hexagon framed by two angled lines. A symbol well known among the human species equally as a symbol of power as well as betrayal. A second figure in a white environment suit joined the first, staring down the hallway.

"I can't believe you actually found it. Do you think anything could still be here after all this time?"

"You'd better pray there is, otherwise all this planning will be for nothing."

Both figures walked down the hallway together. The sounds of their footsteps muffled by the lack of air. As they approached the end of the hallway, the doors automatically opened revealing an elevator. The pair looked at each other for a moment, a shared fear of the unknown giving them pause. Then together they stepped into the elevator.


	2. Prologue 2: We don't want a hero

**2286 CE**

 **Sol System / Earth / Vancouver**

"Well what about 2nd Lt. Malcolm Reese. He's a spacer, lived aboard starships most of his life. By all accounts he's a good soldier but not very noteworthy. He received good marksmanship scores but wasn't anywhere near the best. The only thing he seemed to excel at was endurance training."

"No commendations nor medals of any kind, however nobody seems to have anything bad to say about him. He does seems to be perfectly adequate. Is that who we want?"

"Isn't that the plan? Someone who won't stand out and doesn't scream _special operative_?"

"It was. Now that we found him though I'm having doubts about putting something this important into the hands of mediocrity."

"I wouldn't go as far as calling him _mediocre_. Lt. Reese seems like a perfectly capable marine to put in charge of simple babysitting job."

"But it's an important babysitting job, at least to me."

"From what I see here is his file he seems to be a generally friendly person, well liked by his peers. He just doesn't really _stand_ out in any way. That seems to be a trend with his career. He does his job well but there is always somebody else that is a little better or more deserving than him and they get the promotion. I would almost say it's calculated and he's doing that on purpose."

"You think he could be one of them?"

"No I don't believe so. None of my contacts turned up anything when we did a deep background check. He's never been assigned to be any place important. In fact the only duty assignment he's ever requested is Melbourne. There's nothing there to spy even _on_."

"If he's the one then we should bring him in and tell him what's really going on."

"No, as far as he knows our VIP is just some corporate suit that pulled in some favors with the alliance for a military bodyguard. There is a leak somewhere in the Systems Alliance and until it's plugged we can't trust anyone. If we're going with Reese then we keep him in the dark. We have to keep up these charades and misdirections. "

"Doc, I think Lola has the right idea on this. We should tell Reese who he really has under his care. It'll keep him motivated and he'll be better prepared if there is trouble."

"Didn't you just say this was going to be a simple babysitting job? If everything goes right it won't matter and he'll never need to know anything. We tell him the absolute minimum needed. We don't need a hero."

"Doc you've gotta hard over the years."

"When it comes to this, I must be."

"I'll make the call."


	3. Chapter 1: Babysitter needed, pays well

**2286**

 **Sol System / Earth (orbit)**

Lt. Malcolm Reese sighed and stared out the window of the transport shuttle back at Earth. He was going to miss being assigned to Melbourne, it was such a laid back command. He was home by 6pm every night and had weekends off to spend surfing Gunnamatta.

As the transport turned toward Luna base he lost his view of the beautiful blue orb that had been his home the last 5 years. He had never even set foot on Earth until he had turned 18 and joined the Alliance military. However once he got there he found he was reluctant to now leave it. He sighed again and turned his attention back to his new orders.

"Effective immediately you are to report to the _SSV Tokyo_ as it begins its year long patrol in the Attican Traverse…."

 _Why the hell am I being sent out to the Traverse? It must have been that prick Commander Hopkins, he's had it out for me. How was I supposed to know that was_ his _daughter?_

" _..._ The _Tokyo_ will proceed to Eden Prime where you will disembark and rendezvous with the Orion Foundation VIP Elia Nuwani. You will take over as Elia Nuwanis personal security for the rest of her trip back to Earth. You will escort her directly to Vancouver to meet with Alliance Command."

 _Security detail. They took him away from a cushy job to be a glorified babysitter for a corp stooge._

Malcolm sighed again and went back to staring out into the black for the rest of his trip.

A _ding_ was heard throughout the shuttle and a synthesized voice came on over the comm, "We will be arriving at Luna station in 2 minutes. Please make sure you have all of your luggage and personal items with you before disembarking. Thank you for flying SpaceX."

Luna station was a 20 kilometer wide double torus habitat parked at the Earth\Luna L1 point. It was a major stopover point for ships going in and out of the Sol system. Malcolm spotted the _SSV Tokyo_ among the other ship traffic as the transport came in to land in the upper docking spires. A 500 meter long cruiser that had been around since before the Reaper war. It was still considered one of the better ships in the navy and had several famous captains including Admiral Anderson.

After landing and being allowed to disembark, Malcolm synced his omni-tool with the local extranet and checked which dock the _Tokyo_ was assigned to, 47A. He sighed again, slung his duffle bag over his shoulder, and meandered his way up to docking bay 47.

 **Sol System / System Alliance Space Vehicle Tokyo**

"I am not a taxi service." The captain of the _Tokyo_ pursed his lips as he read over the documents provided by the young lieutenant.

"Understood sir, but those are my orders."

Captain Vadiraj glanced up at Malcolm. "Yes lieutenant I _can_ see that. I was merely expressing my dissatisfaction with the situation. We had not intended to make a stop at Eden Prime so early in our patrol."

"Yes sir, sorry sir."

"However since the Alliance command has seen fit to change my patrol route at the last minute for a single 2nd lieutenant then I guess that is what we are doing. My aide Ensign Taggert can show you to your temporary berthing until we reach Eden Prime." Captain Vadiraj paused for a moment pondering the orders before eying the young officer standing rigidly at attention. "A word of advice lieutenant. With this assignment you've caught somebody's eye up in the brass. I'm not sure if you're being punished or tested here. I would tread very carefully."

Malcolm glanced down at the captain's face. "I'm not entire sure either sir, but I will. Thank you, sir." Malcolm saluted and walked out of the captain's office.

Captain Vadiraj stared at his work terminal, thinking. After a few minutes he logged in the Alliance military extranet and started typing commands. "Let's just see if we can find who you are Lt. Reese and the real reason you're out here."

Ensign Taggert was a talker. A non-stop motor mouth that would have given a Salarian used spaceship dealer a run for his money. Malcolm didn't get much beyond introducing himself and asking to be taking to his temporary berthing before she was off. He briefly thought about trying to get a word in when she stopped for breath, however it didn't seem like needed to breathe..

 _Maybe she learned that circular breathing technique musicians use. Maybe she never stops for breath._ Malcolm mused while riding the elevator down to the crew deck. He tuned back to "conversation" he was having with the ensign.

"...so I saw you came from Australia, it must be super gorgeous there. I've never been but Lt. Yomada in engineering is Australian on her dad's side so she goes to Sydney every year..."

 _Maybe it's a cybernetic implant…._

The elevator stopped and the doors hissed open. As he and his guide stepped out onto the deck a small group of enlisted personnel moved onto the elevator behind them. Several of them glanced in his direction and began smirking.

 _Yeah laugh it up at least I'm off this ship in a few days but you all have to stay. Ha!_

"So here's your bunk. Let me know if you need anything while you're with us."

"Great, tha-," Malcolm began but the ensign was already off to talk somebody else's ear off.

"Hey Yomada! Guess what..." Taggert shouted as she took off down the hallway to assault the ears of poor Yomada.

Malcolm stared after her for a moment before shaking his head then stepping into his new quarters.


	4. Chapter 2: I've seen bigger

**Exodus Cluster/Utopia System/ Eden Prime**

A general a sense of trepidation had followed Malcolm the whole trip down the gravity well into the spaceport. Captain Vadiraj had seemed very grateful to have Malcolm off his ship, the shuttle was barely away from the _Tokyo_ before the cruiser made a hard burn out of the system

 _I wish I knew what the hell I'm doing here,_ Malcolm thought to himself as he stepped off the landing ramp into the hustle and bustle of the busy spaceport.

Eden Prime had become a major nexus of human activity post war. The Citadel council had committed to working to rebuild the relays but had to prioritize capital worlds and food production world's first, like Eden Prime. This left the colony ripe for a population boom. Human refugees that fled to other colonies and the Citadel during the war, flocked to Eden Prime once the relay connection to the Exodus Cluster was back up and running. The population exploded from around 3 million to just over 20 million within a few decades. Now the population was creeping up to 1 billion.

Malcolm tapped his omni-tool and brought up the directions to the Orion Foundation campus where he was supposed to meet Ms. Nuwani. The office was in one of the more affluent business areas of Constant, the capital city. He then had his omni-tool pull up information on the local transport options. After a few seconds of deliberation he began to weave his way through the crowd towards the exit.

The trip from Sol system to Eden Prime had been uneventful almost to the point of boring. He had no real duties while aboard the _Tokyo_ so he spent most of his time just reading about Orion Foundation.

The Orion Foundation was created 90 years ago, after the end of the war by a coalition of scientist led by Miranda Lawson. Primarily focused on medical and biotech research, they also had lines of cybernetic enhancements and biotic amps as well. The Foundation garnered a lot of good will with the Alliance post war by providing cybernetic and cloned tissue replacements to injured veterans and civilians alike. Malcolm tried to find information about Elia Nuwani but couldn't find anything other than a short blurb on the Orion official Extranet site. Apparently she was an Asari biologist\xenobiologist working to adapt some of Orion's breakthroughs on human gene mods to other races.

 _If the Alliance is sending a marine to personally escort her to Earth she must have pictures of somebody,_ he mused to himself, _pictures that somebody doesn't want on the Extranet._ The idea of stuffy Admirals getting caught in compromising positions amused him greatly. So caught up in his own thoughts Malcolm never noticed the rough looking group of humans that seemed to be taking a great interest in where he was going.

Malcolm continued out of spaceport to the monorail station.

The high speed monorail zipped it's way over miles of farmland, heading towards the capital city of Constant. Malcolm leaned against the window watching the sun slowly set behind the city. One day on Eden Prime was just over 64 Earth hours long, sunsets were spectacular and lasted hours.

He checked the address on his omni-tool again, reviewing how to get from the monorail station to the Orion offices. It should be a relatively short walk once the train arrived. He sat back in his chair closing his eyes, trying to tune out the new blaring from the overhead speakers.

 **... _gorilla destroyed several million credits worth of lab equipment and injured 6 scientists_. _Mars Polytechnic issued a that a full inquiry would be done and criminal charges brought against those responsible._**

 ** _In other news the Salarian Confederation of Independent Colonies signed a mutual assistance pact and trade agreement with the Batarian Hegemony today. The Salarian Confederation declared that with the agreement they could be truly free from the oppressive rule of the Salarian Union and the Citadel Council._**

 ** _The Confederation was created out of a schism that formed between the various ruling bodies within the Salarian Union over 80 years ago. The primary point of contention being the controversial actions of Alliance soldier and Council Spectre Commander Shepard in curing the Krogan genophage. They declared the actions of Commander Shepard irresponsible and criminal._**

 ** _The Confederation's colonies and holdings are primarily in the Attican Traverse at the edges of Council space._**

 ** _Alliance Systems command has expressed concern over this treaty. Since the end of the war the Batarian Hegemony has backed away from human interests in the Traverse and Terminus systems. Now however with the backing of the Salarian Confederation they could once again become a major threat._**

 ** _A Council spokesperson said the Council has met with the representatives of the Salarian Confederation. The Council disagrees with the Salarian Confederation but does recognizes their independence and will not interfere in their government. Dalatrass Rinoah of the Salarian Union could not be reached for comment. Thank you for listening to Alliance New Network, stay tuned for Sports Talk after these messages…_**

The Orion Foundation campus was made up of 4 squat wide buildings surrounding a single tall skyscraper. The smaller buildings where large bowls with the sides split into 6 equal parts. A geodesic dome sat in the center of each building. The central spire was wide at the base narrowing towards the top which then flared outward again into multiple "petals". The entire complex sat on a body of water with bridges connecting each building as well as the open air parks that were spread out around campus. The whole thing looked like kilometer tall lotus flower surrounded by lilly pads on a pond. It wasn't the tallest building he'd seen in his travels but it was very impressive.

Malcolm walked into the front entrance of the main building and strode up the big security desk situated near the entrance.

"I'm Lt. Malcolm Reese, I'm here to meet with Ms. Nuwani." He forwarded his credentials from his omni to the security officer.

The young looking human officer glanced at his Alliance military ID. Then tapped a few times on the terminal in front of him then addressed Malcolm with a bored sounding voice, "You have been granted temporary access to the 78th floor and Ms. Nuwani's offices in the spire. Those are the only locations you may enter within the spire. You have free access to all other buildings on campus except the subterranean labs. The elevators are to your right over there. Don't attempt to access any areas you do not have permission for, the security drones are permitted to fire on trespassers."

"Whatever you say boss, you'll get no trouble from me."

"You will need to check your bag here, it is not allowed on that floor. You can retrieve it on your way out."

Malcolm dropped his bag by the desk and the security officer clipped a tag to it and then scanned it. A copy of the bag receipt was forwarded to his omni. That done, he sauntered to the bank of elevators and pressed the call button. The crowd moving in and out of the lobby seemed to be mostly business people and scientists, almost entirely human but with a sprinkling of Asari and Salarians mixed in. He did spot one Turian dressed in a guard uniform at the far end of the lobby. The scientists tended to wear the workmanlike two-tone uniforms that were made popular in the late 22nd century by corporations like Binary Helix and Exo-Geni. Hanging near the back of the crowd not far from the main entrance, he spotted a curious group of humans wearing what seemed like very simple street clothes. They seemed a little on the rough side to be scientists or businessmen. Maybe students or agricultural workers.

A chime from the elevators interrupted this train of thought. Malcolm stepped onto the elevator and asked the building VI for the 78th floor. The elevator jolted up to speed and began ascending the giant spire.

 **... _and the Mars Protheans beat out the Usaru Meastros in Biotiball today, 57 to 48. The Protheans will go on to the semi-finals to face the Seattle Sorcerers next week…_**

Malcolm grinned to himself, _Ha! Captain Martin owes me 50 credits, He thought his precious_ Meastros _were going to go all the way._

The elevator came to a stop at the 78th floor and the doors opened with a hiss. Malcolm walked out of the elevator into a richly appointed foyer. A desk was directly before him flanked by large double doors. A human woman sat at the desk and perked up when she saw Malcolm exit the elevator.

"Mr. Reese I presume?"

"Yes ma'am."

"You may go straight in, Ms. Nuwani is expecting you."

The doors to the right of the desk opened at some unseen command. Malcolm nodded to the secretary and walked on through, stopping in his tracks at the site of the room beyond. This particular office was the largest he had ever seen.

 _Seriously why would one person need this much space just to work at a desk._

The walls of the office slanted slightly outwards giving the whole room a trapezoidal appearance. Water cascaded down each wall into a trench that ran the whole length of the room. Within the trench were an enormous variety of plants, some Malcolm could recognize from Earth and others so unusual he could only assume were from other worlds. At the far end of the office sat a desk in front of gigantic windows that nearly took up the entire far wall.

Seated at the desk was an Asari with sky blue skin that faced slightly away from him working at a terminal. She ignored him as he approached. He stood there for a minute waiting, before he decided to break the silence first.

"Ms. Nuwani, I'm Lt. Reese here to escort you-"

Nuwani held up a finger to silence him. "Yes Mr. Reese I'm aware of who you are, please do not interrupt me while I am working."

She continued to tap away at her terminal ignoring him.

 _Well this is a great start._ _This is going to be all kinds of fun,_ he thought wryly to himself.

Eventually Nuwani stood up and looked at Malcolm. Her stare was so imposing he straightened his back and saluted her before he even realized his arm was moving. He felt like he was in boot camp again and was being stared down by his drill sergeant. She ignored the salute and came out from behind her desk walking a circle around Malcolm before coming around to stand in front of him.

"You will do I suppose. I'm surprised Alliance command didn't send somebody of higher rank or an N7 marine. Why did they send _you_?"

"I couldn't answer that ma'am, I was not given any additional details."

"No I don't suppose they would tell a lowly grunt anything. Very well, we will have to make due. Our ship is not due to leave until the day after tomorrow. Do you already have accommodations?"

"No ma'am that was not provided in my orders."

She let out an exasperated sigh, "Your Alliance is not very efficient, they should take some lessons from the Turian military. Efficient, timely, and detail oriented."

"Yes ma'am, I apologize ma'am.'

"You will stay at my estate until we leave then, a room will be provided. I'll message my servants to expect you. In the meantime you're free to walk around the campus. I would recommend you get something to eat it will be a few hours yet before I am ready to leave. Your temporary pass should cover any food or drink you you require, it will be billed to my department."

"Thank you ma'am, I'll do that."

"You may go now," she made a shooing motion with her hand as went back to her desk to sit down.

Malcolm turned to walk out. Just before he got to the doors Nuwani called behind him.

"Mr. Reese, one last thing. Do not call me ma'am again or I will throw you off of the roof of this building." She never looked up from her terminal.

"Yes ma-...Ms. Nuwani."

 _Yes, all kinds of fun._

* * *

 _Notes: Thanks for everyone who read, reviewed, and favorited. I haven't done any creative writing since college so there are bound to be mistakes and awkward wording in places. I'll apologize now for those and hopefully it will improve as I write more._

 _This is going to be a bit of a slow start at first as I get everything into place. There will be action and drama though, I promise._

 _There is going to be some re-purposed dialogue or scenes from the games as we saw in the prologue. Mostly this is just to illustrate parrallels between this story and it's heroes and the original mass effect games and it's heroes. I will try to avoid using them too much. Also_ _I didn't really want to just do a big brain dump of information about my take on the Mass Effect universe post war. I would rather explain it all within the story either by news clips like in this chapter or explained via characters._


End file.
